Temporary Dior accessory concession on the ground floor, next to a recently opened Saint Laurent boutique

Under construction: A new Louis Vuitton boutique on the store's ground floor

Temporary Burberry boutique -- negotiations continue for a permanent space in the store.

Former women's shoe hall on the mezzanine, closed for renos.

The recently opened Saint Laurent boutique at street level.

Loro Piana boutique, which opened over the winter on the street level.

Watches and jewellery moved to the 2nd floor.

Temporary women's Burberry ready-to-wear boutique -- this space once housed Michael Kors and is located between Akris and Brunello Cucinelli.

Holt Renfrew Commences its Mothership Renovation: The 190,000-square foot Holt Renfrew store at 50 Bloor Street West in Toronto is about to go under the knife, as Holt Renfrew continues to upgrade its fleet of stores in Canada. The Bloor Street store is the company’s global flagship with its corporate offices attached in the neighbouring 60 Bloor Street West office tower, which is also seeing some minor renovations that has resulted in disruption at the northeast corner of Bloor Street West and Bay Street.

Women’s shoes has moved onto the concourse level temporarily in a bright space, while the mezzanine level is renovated. Holt Renfrew Gourmet on the concourse closed several months ago and cosmetics are expected to eventually move downstairs. The Café at Holts restaurant will be rebranded as Colette Grand Café after a renovation in a few months. Some jewellery and watch brands have moved to the second floor and Burberry has opened temporary accessory and women’s ready-to-wear boutiques.

Holt Renfrew is upgrading its stores nationally — Vancouver’s multimillion dollar renovation is nearly complete, and the store is said to do several hundred million dollars in sales annually. The Yorkdale store in Toronto is also about to see an expansion that will see some new shops (watch for an expanded Gucci boutique and new Dior Homme concession) and of course Montreal will be in for a treat when the merged ‘Holt Renfrew Ogilvy’ is eventually completed, creating a 220,000-square foot luxury behemoth that will be connected to a luxurious Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences.

Photo: Richard Hui

Sugarfina Serves Up Sugary Love Just in Time for Father’s Day: Los Angeles-based luxury ‘grownup’ candy retailer Sugarfina, has opened its second Lower Mainland boutique at Vancouver's Oakridge Centre. The 450-square-foot boutique is bursting with its chic sweetness and is located next to Swarovski, Aritzia and Gap stores. While dangerously close to the mall’s food court, it may be wise to enjoy lunch first, then head over to Sugarfina, so at least some of the delicious candies make it home!

The Sugarfina concept has grown rapidly, now boasting over 30 boutiques in the United States with three of those being located in Nordstrom stores. Their first Canadian store was at Metropolis at Metrotown in Vancouver last November of 2017. Watch for locations in Toronto as the brand continues to expand.

Could this be the Most fabulous Mall Management Office in Canada? Toronto’s Bayview Village recently finished a renovation to its management office, and it’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Bayview Village’s resident ‘decoristas’ worked with a leading design firm to overhaul the 2,059-square foot space on the mall’s lower-level.

The space, which was formerly an art gallery, was completely gutted and the new layout was conceptualized by design firm DIALOG. Personal touches by decoristas Carrie DeVries (QuadReal’s VP of Retail Leasing) and Melissa Evans-Lee (National Director, Marketing & Customer Experience at QuadReal) saw the fashionable space to completion. Melissa is known to be a fashion guru (and a big fan of Gwyneth Paltrow) who has been responsible for Bayview Village’s unique ‘haute’ marketing.

“When it came to wallpaper, paint, flooring, furniture and all decorative touches, we definitely pursued pretty in alignment with BV’s ‘haute’ brand personality”, says Melissa Evans-Lee. And the end result, says Carrie DeVries, is “not just befitting of our chic team but welcoming to the high end brands not only currently under our roof but those we hope to attract”.

Outland Denim Evolves from a 'Denim-Project' to Holt Renfrew’s H-Project: As part of their Good Jeans initiative, Holt Renfrew is offering a range of sustainable denim brands that are offering an alternative to the status quo. One of these game-changing brands is Australia’s Outland Denim.

In addition to help clean up the environmentally dirty denim business, founder James Bartle created Outland after an encounter with an anti-trafficking group at a music festival in Australia. He then traveled to Asia and saw firsthand how human traffickers prey on vulnerable young girls in order to service the sex industry. James and his wife created the "Denim Project," which offers training and employment to Cambodian women rescued from human trafficking and exploitation, and sources ethical and sustainable materials for everything from cotton, to dyes, to zippers. Their denim is A+ rated sustainable and organic.

The brand launched with H-Project at Holts back in March and is now available in the premium denim sections of Holt Renfrew and online at Harry Rosen in Canada. In July Outland will roll out the 2018 must-have denim jackets as well as new styles and washes.

Heads up! In September, plans are in the works for Bartle to attend at Harry Rosen for an in-store event.

Lemongrass Spa Lovers Rejoice as Company Launches Online Shop: Hot on the heels of the March launch of their first retail location, Lemongrass House Canada’s highly popular, all-natural, handcrafted, quality spa products are now available online. The team moved up the launch of their online shop to accommodate a strong demand from outside of the greater Vancouver area.

The spa and personal care products – such as essential oils (with diffusers), body and massage oils, face creams, room sprays, soaps, teas and more, offer exotic and floral fragrances. They are all-natural (no chemicals used) and handmade. Each product is created by Thai artisans who sign each product before it is packaged by hand.

Co-owners Maxine Druker and Ben Horne chose Vancouver’s historic Gastown neighbourhood for the location of their flagship and have plans to open in Edmonton and Toronto.

ONEMETH Goes from Good to Greatest Hits with MTV Collaboration: ONEMETH GOODS, the Toronto-based brand favoured by The Weeknd and Justin Beiber, recently collaborated with MTV Canada to produce an exclusive capsule collection that celebrates the intersection of music and fashion. This collaborative collection is a departure from ONEMETH’s traditional basic items and utilizes a bold foray into new silhouettes and colours.

Launched in 2014, ONEMETH was founded by Amin Todai and his team at OneMethod, a digital and design studio based in Toronto. Key to their philosophy is a dedication to using locally sourced and locally manufactured fabrics.

The pop-up shop will be at 277 Queen Street from June 1st to 17th and will sell the exclusive capsule collection, and will showcase an immersive visual timeline of music and fashion from 1981 onwards. Hours are Monday through Friday from 11am – 8pm and Saturday and Sunday from 11am – 6pm. No word yet on whether there will be any guest appearances by celebrities but you never know!

The Body Shop Says ‘Let Us Take You to the Yogurt Shop’: Torontonians and visitors alike are invited to stop by 950 Queen Street West to visit The Yogurt Shop pop-up by The Body Shop. This two-day event – June 2nd and June 3rd only – celebrates the launch of their new game-changing Body Yogurts collection.

While onsite, guests are invited to enjoy a free dairy-free frozen treat; explore a series of unique, whimsical installations that scream ‘Instagram me’; and join The Body Shop’s Forever Against Animal Testing campaign by adding their signature to the brand’s global petition.

These two Vancouverites wanted to change the way people moved about their day. Reid and Parker set-out to create all-day unisex performance footwear with functionality and quality materials, which were sellable at an affordable price point. To achieve the second, they eliminated the retail component and sell direct via their online store.

The direct-to-consumer approach saves consumers at least $100 on each pair, which is offered in leather and knit, in black and grey.

Over 200 distinguished guests gathered at the Vancouver Convention Centre for an impressive show, coinciding with the opening of Kimberlite's first flagship store in North America (Photos of the store and show included).